Victory Alert: Claremont Rejects Costly Rental Registry Proposal
Victory Alert
Claremont Rejects Costly Rental Registry Proposal
By Janet M. Gagnon
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & SVP, Government Relations
On May 13th, the Claremont City Council voted 3-to-2 to reject a motion to create a rental registry for all rental housing providers, including multifamily, single-family, condominiums and accessory dwelling units. This is a victory for responsible financial governance in Claremont!
The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA) led a strong opposition against the rental registry by actively lobbying city council members before and during the city council meeting, submitting formal written comments and oral testimony, and organizing support from property owners to help oppose the proposal.
AAGLA was the only trade association to attend and speak against the rental registry. Our comments focused on the fact that a rental registry would be extremely expensive, since similar sized cities, such as Culver City, costs the city $1.2 million per year and requires 3 full-time city staff to administer. Also, Claremont has no local rent stabilization ordinance, so there is no need for the city to gather such detailed information. Further, the gathering of such data could expose the city to litigation based on wrongful disclosures, hacking and misuse. AAGLA suggested as an alternative that any concerns renters may have about violations of state law and excessive rent could easily be handled by renters submitting complaints directly to the State Attorney General or the City Attorney for verification, tracking, and referral to the Attorney General’s office for potential litigation. No other city in the Southland has a rental registry without rent stabilization a/k/a rent control. AAGLA urged that any available funds that might be used for a rental registry be spent on additional rental assistance.
Council Member Jennifer Stark refused to acknowledge the financial and litigation exposure and instead made the motion to vote to create a rental registry. Council Member Jed Leano seconded her motion. Fortunately, Mayor Corey Calaycay, Council Member Sal Medina, and Council Member Ed Reece took the financially and legally responsible action of voting against the motion, so it failed 3-to-2.
However, a draft anti-harassment ordinance did move forward as currently drafted. AAGLA was successful in obtaining revisions to make the ordinance a protection against harassment for all parties regardless of the perpetrator or recipient, so that it now includes renters harassing owners and renters harassing other renters in addition to owners harassing renters. AAGLA is still advocating for an additional change to include social media/cyber bullying as a form of harassment when private information is purposefully disclosed online. Unfortunately, no such modification was made. However, the ordinance still requires a second vote by the full City Council before it is passed and we will provide a Red Alert to Claremont members to help push for this additional change prior to its final passage.
This article is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions regarding your property or specific leasing issues and the requirements of any legal changes described herein, please consult with an attorney.